March/April 2003

The technology behind RFID (radio-frequency identification) was more in evidence than ever before at this year's Softworld Supply Chain event. RFID is seen as a potential replacement for barcoding in future logistics applications - once the cost of the electronic "tags" reaches the magical figure of 5 cents or 1p each (opinions vary on the break-even level).

Several exhibitors showed RFID-related products, and although the general consensus seemed to be that RFID was not quite ready to sweep the board yet, it was clear that suppliers thought it could do so in the foreseeable future.

 

The biggest push came jointly from two exhibitors, software house Manhattan Associates and RFID specialist Intellident. They have been working together to develop an RFID solution based on Manhattan's existing PkMS warehouse management system.

Other suppliers are also adding RFID capability to their software; among the latest is OBS, which has just launched an RFID module for its Calidus-e suite.

Jeff Baum, Manhattan's senior vice president international, admitted these were early days for the concept, but maintained that his company had gone much further than others in creating a viable working solution built round RFID.

"It's no trivial matter to integrate RFID into existing software," he told e.logistics Magazine. "RFID tags store far more data than conventional barcodes, and the system needs to parse that data and populate the system fields with it correctly. It could mean rewriting almost every screen." He also talks of creating multiple linkages and "programming the messy stuff", adding: "We see it as our job to take care of this."

Manhattan and Intellident are working closely with the Auto ID Center to help develop the EPC (Electronic Product Code) Network, a proposed standard for exchanging RFID data. This can store 96 separate pieces of information. Baum describes it as "the new EAN code", and points out that it already has backing from multinationals such as Unilever and Kraft.

SAP is also a member of the Auto ID Center, but Manhattan claims to be the only specialist supply-chain execution company in membership so far, and says it gains from benefits such as early access to emerging EPC codes. "I believe we're really well positioned to drive this technology forward," Baum says.

He thinks RFID could ultimately have more implications for its Infolink product than for PkMS. Infolink is the company's cross-application, cross-enterprise information system, so his analysis reflects the company's recent drive to extend its scope beyond the warehouse and into the supply-chain mainstream.

In the US Manhattan has been working with RFID specialists such as Alien Technologies and TI, and has already mounted a trial with a sports goods company. It is using Zebra printer technology that can produce conventional human-readable labels and barcodes, but with the same data stored in an integrated RFID tag on the back.

Currently the Manhattan/ Intellident system uses "passive" tags. These have no internal power source, which means they must pass quite close to fixed readers, but they are much cheaper than tags with on-board power. However, next year a major new release of the Manhattan software is expected, and is likely to include the ability to write to active tags.

As it is, benefits of RFID over barcodes are said to include improved inventory accuracy, faster response, better fill rates and a reduction in labour requirement. Intellident says that while an operative would take about half a minute to scan 25 separate cases on a pallet, and RFID reader could to it in five seconds.

In a bid to press the benefits of RFID, Intellident has now launched what it calls an RFID advisory service, through which it aims to help users assess the benefits of RFID over traditional data capture methods and evaluate the possible return on capital.

"Barcodes have a good fifteen years left to run," Jeff Baum admits, "but once RFID standards are fixed, it just needs some major retailers to drive supplier adoption, and the whole thing will quickly pick up critical mass."